Working in the gaming industry is a highly desirable career choice for young men. Many children grow up dreaming of making video games, boys especially. People are willing to sacrifice a lot to achieve their childhood dreams, and willing to ignore a lot of negative aspects of that choice... for a certain amount of time. Young men are particularly vulnerable to this, which is one reason why gaming and startups both hire young men (usually fresh out of college) at an abnormally high rate. If you're 23 years old, don't have a family or strong social life, and spent the last 15 years dreaming of this job and the last 4 years training for it, you're going to pour everything you have into it. You'll move across the country for it, because again you don't have a family or strong social life.

And then burnout sets in, which is one reason why gaming and startups both are dominated by 20-somethings. When you get into your 30s, having a family becomes more common. You don't want to spend 80 hours a week at the office. You want more money, more benefits. You go to Microsoft or IBM or one of the older, established companies where work is more steady and pay is more competitive.

If you spend 15 years dreaming of something, it takes a while for that dream to be shattered by reality. The time between entering the workforce and the dream being shattered is where gaming companies and tech startups turn their profit.